What tips can you give me?
- Take time to find the right arts practitioner/organisation to work with: research their work.
- Talk to the arts officer in your local authority if you have one, they should be able to help you identify artists/organisations.
- Have taster days for the young people/youth workers before you decide on the art form/artist.
- Be clear about roles and how you can share arts/youth work skills.
- Make sure you share information about how your youth organisation works with young people, with the arts worker/organisation.
- Remember to include meetings, materials, preparation time, planning, inductions, training, and the public dimension (exhibition, launch, performance) in your budget.
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How do artists/arts practitioners work?
Working with individual artists/musicians/storytellers etc.
Different arts practitioners work in different ways
Arts practitioners:
- have different workshop styles
- work in different media
- may (or may not) be used to working across the art forms
- may (or may not) be used to working with other arts organisations
- work with different starting points or emphasis
- may or may not be used to working with young people.
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How to find the right arts practitioner?
Key areas you might like to consider
- Experience/aptitude with young people/awareness of issues when working with young people
- Medium/ styles/technical ability
- Enthusiasm
- Availability
- Professionalism
- Communication skills.
"The final key to the success of the project was getting the right artist involved. The Arts Development Officer was able to identify the needs of the project and match them with an artist. The limitations of the budget meant they would do the visual work over four days. They needed someone who would be able to establish a rapport with the group quickly, who was very experienced in what they do and could maximise the young people's potential within this timescale." - From the Fife Health postcard project case study
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Toolbox
Create a list of criteria and put them in priority order to help you choose your artist. e.g. the most important thing for your project might be that the artist has experience with particularly vulnerable young people, or knows how to work with issues.
Or if you are creating a project with a high profile exhibition it may be important that you get a high quality product/a particular style of work.
Young people can be involved in the interviews/selection process and they may have different criteria. | top
Questions to ask an arts practitioner?
| 1. |
Who have they worked with before? |
| 2. |
Have they worked with young people/vulnerable young people before? |
| 3. |
Do they have any information they can send you about previous projects/methods of working? |
| 4. |
What role did they play in relation to youth workers in working with young people? |
| 5. |
What size of group are they happy to work with? |
| 6. |
What kind of space would they need? |
| 7. |
Would they provide all the materials/need storage? |
| 8. |
What do they charge? |
| 9. |
Do they charge for meeting time? |
| 10. |
What other extra costs would be incurred? |
| 11. |
How do they normally evaluate projects? | top
What about child protection?
See child protection section for more detail on:
- When criminal record checks are needed
- References
- Confidentiality issues
- Child protection policies
- Addressing how difficult and challenging behaviour will be dealt with.
The arts can open people up in new ways, it is important to discuss with the artist how you/they wish to deal with this together before the work starts. Many arts practitioners are not trained to deal with issues arising in youth work situations and will rely on the youth worker to take the lead in this area.
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How to employ an artist/arts practitioner?
It is a good idea to make a contract. For information on contracts click on the link below:
The artists information company: AN-web pages contracts
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Contract for freelance artists working within a youth work setting. Outline of what should be in a contract, to be used in formulating contract pro forma.
Tash Goswami
National Arts Officer
National Association of Clubs for Young People (NACYP)
- Names of all parties involved
- Address of all parties
- Status of employment: i.e. freelance /sessional/ temporary
- Date of operation
- Place of operation
- Termination date
- 3rd party duties outlined - job description and specific duties of the post holder
- Outline of employers responsibilities i.e.: public liability insurance, health & safety, appropriate and or relevant training provision etc.
- Correct wording for employers non responsibility or liability for insurance, Tax etc re: PAYE
- Terms and conditions, i.e. payment, holiday, sick leave, appropriate behaviour etc budgets for resources, expenses claim systems, disciplinary/grievance procedures
- CRB disclosure and process
- Equal opps monitoring and statement
- Contract Law applicable in England & Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland
- 3rd party agrees duties, terms and conditions.
| The method of employment will depend on the project/ budget (see fundraising section).
1. Self Employed, e.g. sessional work, project work, consultation, residency.
2. Employed; creating an arts post within the youth work team.
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What's in the budget?
(See fundraising section for more detail on budget)
Include: preparation and contact time, meetings (once the project has started), evaluation time and feedback.
Will you need to budget for:
1.
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Work between workshops, e.g. processing a film, scanning images, preparing materials/ instruments. |
| 2. |
Planning |
3.
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Pubic dimension of the project: launch, exhibition hanging/framing, performance lighting/PA/costumes, publication design/printing. | top
How much will it cost?
Ask the arts practitioner what they normally get paid as each will set their own fee depending on their experience, qualifications and practice (see Case Studies funding sections for examples).
Visual artists
The Scottish Artists Union (visual arts) have an offical rates of pay document which is endorsed by the Scottish Arts Council. They have created a synopsis of this document which they are presenting at roadshows around the country.
The synopsis states the following:
The following rates should apply to all aspects of work from project planning and development to workshop setting up, execution and clear up. All hours worked should be accounted for. Properly costed travel expenses should be paid over and above all fees.
| Hourly Rates: |
Sessional Rates: |
| £15.00 p/hr min |
£100 p/day (£50 p/1/2 day) min |
| £20.00 p/hr with 3 yrs + experience |
£150 p/day (£75 p/1/2 day) with 3 yrs experience |
| £25.00 p/hr with 5yrs + experience |
£200 p/day (£100 p/1/2 day) with 5yrs + experience | It is recommended that the full document is studied (also contains information on, e.g. rates of pay for residencies).
For further information contact the Scottish Artists Union on: Scottish Artists Union website
Musicians
Also see the following link for guidelines on paying musicians from the Incorporated Society of Musicians:
Advice on paying musicians >>
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What practical questions should you ask?
See also "setting up an arts project"
Ask yourself whether you have the appropriate: activity, resources, venue and facilities.
- Do you need to think about?
- Consultation of young people/taster days to help to gauge whether the activity is right
- Risk assessment (see child protection section) to gauge the safety of the venue
- Hiring equipment (who does this the arts practitioner or you?)
- Transport
- Accessing community resources (such as a dark room)
- Noise levels; is the group going to make noise which may disturb others or do you need a quiet/ private space?
- Accessibility issues (see setting up an arts project).
Discuss with the arts practitioner what they will bring and what you need to provide.
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What kind of organisations to approach?
Arts organisations work in a range of ways and, in a range of media. They can offer different specialist advice, services, projects, facilities, styles of working and resources. All of these types of organisations may provide educational/recreational arts activity with young people.
| Public venues: |
e.g. galleries, libraries, theatres, dance studios, performance spaces, venues (music), cinemas. Some will work with several art forms. Venues will often run educational programmes, arts projects, outreach work and projects to encourage access. |
| Community arts Organisations: |
Organisations that focus on projects with the community or for a particular group such as people with a disability or from a particular culture. |
| Professional touring companies: |
Will often have a project/educational or workshop element to their work. e.g. theatre companies, dance companies, circus, orchestras, performance art and street art companies, bands. |
| Festival organisations: |
e.g. book festivals, poetry festivals, performance, music festivals.
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| Youth arts organisations: |
e.g. youth theatres, youth orchestras.
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| Community and independent arts resources: |
e.g. film/video access centres.
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| Youth focused organisations: |
e.g. video projects |
| Miscellaneous: |
e.g. colleges/outreach programmes, public art agencies, environmental art agencies, TV and radio companies.
Professional bodies: e.g. Scottish Arts Council (SAC), Musicians Union (MU). |
| Voluntary Arts Organisations: |
e.g. community orchestras
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| Local Authorities: |
e.g. community development, culture and leisure, arts development. | These organisations can be approached for:
Advice (on developing a project), information (funding, artists), to develop a project for you, to host a project, provide facilities/equipment, make a joint funding bid, tutors and workshops. Some organisations will be used to working with a number of arts partners, e.g. arts in the city.
To get more of an idea what an arts organisation is like:
Sign up to mailing lists, go to events organised by organisations you might want to work with, invite them to your events.
Feel free to contact a number of organisations- you don't have to work with the first one that you meet.
Ask for information on previous work, and remember to tell people about what you do and how your organisation works with young people.
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How to work together?
Understanding each other
"The more experience I have with different kinds of art work, it opens my mind to give me ideas about what art is about - because it's not a specialist subject that I have been involved with in the past." - Mandy Patterson, Youth Scotland, talking about a project at Stills Gallery.
Understand each others expectations and explore what the possibilities are; communication and planning together are the key to a good project.
Ways of getting the relationships right:
Taster Days
Set up a taster day or a series of taster days for different art forms-Why?
- So that young people can make choices about what they want to do
- To choose an artist
- To introduce youth workers to the art form/artist before the project starts
Induction/ Introduction
It's all part of preparation and getting the project right.
Induction/ introduction: This could be two way with an exchange of environments prior to the project e.g. you may want to visit the artists studio/ base or the organisation venue to get a feel for the way that they work.
Here is a sample induction if an artist is coming to work in your youth environment:
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Orientation
Make sure that the arts/practitioners are introduced to: |
1. The building: including catering facilities, toilets, how to enter and leave the building and areas that they will not be working in.
2. The other staff: each persons role and who they would go to for any requirements.
3. Anyone else who they may come into contact with on the project.
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Introducing the organisation,
talk to the arts practitioner about: |
1. The history of the organisation.
2. What kind of work you do with young people.
3. Show the arts practitioner any leaflets/ information that you have about your organisation.
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Young people
Discuss: |
1. What the existing rules are for young people.
2. Whether there need to be extra rules created for the arts project and who will create them (the young people can create new ground rules for a project with the artist and youth worker).
3. Whether young people can join the arts project after it has started. |
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Child protection
Talk with the artist/ practitioner about: |
1. Child protection procedures.
2. How you would like them to deal with child protection issues.
3. Health and safety: what should happen if there is an accident/where the first aid equipment is kept.
4. The risks of using any particular equipment that you already have or they have brought in.
5. How to deal with difficult behaviour/ disruption.
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The space
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1. Look at the space together and discuss how appropriate it is for the work, e.g. will other people move through the space, is it ok to make noise there.
2. Discuss storage of instruments/materials and whether they will be covered by insurance. |
Times
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1. When the project will run from and to each day.
2. When food should be brought in or when people should take breaks.
3. Who will clear up and how long that will take.
4. Timetable in discussions on project progress with participants and staff.
5. Timetable in a short meeting at the end of each session with the arts practitioners to check that everything is running smoothly. | top
What agendas?
The Fife Postcard Project (see Case Studies) is a good example of organisations working together with different agendas.
Arts Development: to create a fun project that engaged young peoples imaginations and released their creativity.
Community Education: to get the girls group to look at issues of health and well-being, and for the young men's group the objective was to explore how that information could be disseminated more widely.
Health Promotion's/D & WF LHCCs: to inform young people about a range of health and well being issues in a way that would engage the teenage target audience and involve young people in creating the information.
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Toolbox
Agendas: You may have different agendas; it may be useful to put them in a venn diagram and see where they overlap: | top
What roles?
Discuss what role each person has in the project. Being clear about your roles will help you to make the most of the time and people involved and give youth workers and artists clarity in how they can work together.
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How can we share skills?
What existing skills does each partner have?
1. How can you best share skills and make the most of them in the project?
- Have a skill share day before the project just with youth workers and arts workers
- Discuss how you will deal with issues arising before the project starts so that you work as a team
- Set aside regular time to assess how you are working together.
2. What training/development would be appropriate?
- Are the youth workers going to be trained in the arts and will that training be formal or informal?
- Are the artists going to be trained in youth work skills/child protection?
- What skills do the young people have and what skills could they gain; how is this going to be acknowledged, could any training be accredited?
Resources: What resources does each organisation/individual have; these may include venues, equipment, people, time, web access, funding.
How can the youth worker help the artist?
The Artist in the Fife Health post card project described how effective it was to work with a youth worker because:
- The youth worker already knew the background of the young people (their limits, skills, interests and potential issues)
- the youth worker had developed a relationship with the young people and knew when to challenge their behaviour and how to motivate them
- The youth worker understood what was progress and what was not for each individual.
In turn, an artist can extend a youth workers perception of young people's possible achievements by using different learning styles and open their eyes to new ways of working with young people.
It will also useful to forsee and discuss the possible disadvantages of working together.
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Practical checklist
 click here for printable checklist
| EVALUATION |
Comments |
| Inductions: |
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| Have you included time for an induction? |
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| Have you shared information on the way that you work with young people and how you will work together? |
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| Have you shared information on health and safety issues? |
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| Roles |
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| Are you clear about roles? |
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| Child protection |
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| Have you covered child protection issues? (see child protection section) |
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| Taster days: |
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| Do you want to set up a taster day or series of taster days for young people? |
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| Do you want to set up a taster day for youth workers? |
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| Training: |
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| Have you included any training for young people? |
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| Could this training be accredited? |
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| Have you included any training for youth workers in the arts? |
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| Have you included any training for the artist in youth work procedures? |
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| The environment: |
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| Have you included equipment/materials in the budget? |
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| Who is providing what (you/the artist)? |
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| Have you assessed the risk of using the equipment? (see child protection) |
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| Does it need to be quiet? |
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| Is there storage for any materials you need? |
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| Does it need to be private? |
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| Is it OK to make a mess/lots of noise in this space? |
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| Should it have a carpet or wooden floor? |
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| Is it accessible and easy to travel to? |
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| Is it a space where young people will feel comfortable? |
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| Equipment/materials |
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| Have you included equipment/materials in the budget? |
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| Who is providing what (you/the artist)? |
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Have you assessed the risk of using the equipment? (see child protection)
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